Is China the first ecological civilization? What does that term mean, and where does the U.S. stand in relation to China? These questions and more will be addressed by University of Kansas Professor Emeritus Dr. Donald Worster on Wednesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. in Kansas Wesleyan’s Fitzpatrick Auditorium. The event will be co-hosted by The Land Institute. Admission is free.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has delivered a blow to China’s image. The country has ambitions of becoming the world’s first ecological civilization, and it has made enormous progress in recent years. Dr. Worster’s presentation will elaborate upon China’s current status, including what is taking place in that country and its relations with nature, from forests, to energy to diseases.
Dr. Worster currently serves as a professor emeritus in the Department of History at KU. He specializes in the emerging field of environmental history—the changing perception of nature, the rise of conservation and environmentalism, and the impact of the natural world on human society. He has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Australian National University, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies. He is former president of the American Society for Environmental History and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Professor Worster has a long history of engagement with The Land Institute and serves as an Emeritus Board Member. Over the past two decades, he has lectured extensively internationally and his writings have been translated into six languages.
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ABOUT KWU: Kansas Wesleyan University is a private, non-profit four-year college located in Salina, Kan. and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Its mission is to promote and integrate academic excellence, spiritual development, personal well-being and social responsibility. KWU provides an educational program characterized by excellence, within a caring community, rooted in the liberal arts tradition, that includes 16 academic departments and a wide range of majors that includes a growing MBA program. More than 99% of graduates are in jobs or graduate school within six months of graduation, a figure that is among the top two such rates in the state of Kansas. KWU’s music programs and debate teams have been especially successful, with debate winning more than 50 national championships and graduates of the music program securing positions all over the U.S., while multiple athletic teams have advanced to national tournaments. For more information, visit www.kwu.edu.
ABOUT THE LAND INSTITUTE: The Land Institute is a science-based research organization working to develop an alternative to current destructive agricultural practices. Our work is dedicated to advancing perennial grain crops and polyculture farming solutions. Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1976, The Land Institute is committed to researching and developing food production methods that sustain the land and soil, a precious resource in an increasingly precarious state around the globe. Learn more at www.landinstitute.org.
